In my copending patent application titled "A PROCESS FOR HERMETICALLY ENCAPSULATING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE," Ser. No. 133,053 filed Mar. 24, 1980, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,463, a ceramic housing is applied to a semiconductor device in an automatic assembly tape process. My related copending patent application titled "INTEGRATED CIRCUIT PACKAGING PROCESS" Ser. No. 373,921 filed May 3, 1982, discloses and claims an improved lead holding process useful in an automatic assembly tape process. Both of these prior applications are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and are incorporated herein by reference.
In these prior assembly approaches the semiconductor device, such as an integrated circuit (IC) chip, is automatically assembled into a housing. In operation the IC device or chip is first bonded to a metal assembly tape. Then the device package is assembled onto the same tape in an automatic process, part of which involves forming the leads to a desired shape. The approaches are applicable to virtually any lead count packages but are most useful in large lead count very large scale integrated circuit (VLSIC) structures. As shown in the second of the above-identified applications, it is desirable to immobilize the leads of the package prior to mounting in its final location.